Hino Ranger
| Hino Ranger Hino 500 Series |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer |
Hino Motors Kuozui Motors (Taiwan) |
| Also called | Ford N-Series (Australia) Hino 500 Series Hino Validus |
| Production | 1969-present |
| Assembly | Japan |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Truck |
| Body style | Truck (standard cab (Worldwide), crew cab (Australia only)) |
| Powertrain | |
| Transmission | Hino (manual) Allison (automatic) |
The Hino Ranger is a medium to heavy duty cab-over truck produced by the Japanese vehicle manufacturer Hino Motors since 1969.
The Ranger is part of Hino's F-Series Truck with model code such as FC, FD, FE, FF, FG, FL, and FM. The further the alphabet means the higher payload. The 4WD models are FT and GT. The SG is Tractor Head to pull container. In certain countries, the Ranger is only available as medium or heavy truck, while the small or low payload models like FA and FB were replaced by Hino Dutro. In Japan, the small Ranger FA was rebadged as Toyota Dyna.
Hino has competed in the Dakar Rally in 1991, with the Ranger FT 4WD truck driven by Yoshimasa Sugawara, a Japanese rally driver. He always finished in the Top 10 in Camion Category. For 17 straight years, Hino always won the under 10,000 cc class, and captured 1st overall in the 1997 event.
The Hino Ranger KL was introduced in Japan in 1969. After the 1979 discontinuation of the Toyota Massy Dyna, the Ranger series replaced that truck. In Australia, it was sold as Toyota KL300. The Ranger KL-series were offered as short wheelbase KL300, medium wheelbase KL340 and KL350, as well as long wheelbase KL360 and KL380. The Ranger line-up spawned into KB, KR, KQ, and other models. Engines are 4.5 liter DQ100 and 5.0 liter EC100.
Early models have round headlights, while facelift models come with rectangular headlights. The cab design was inspired by European trucks and was considerably more aerodynamic than its predecessor; 35 percent more so according to Hino themselves. The cab was built by robots. the engine range was also updated.
Japanese model production ended in 1989, Indonesian model lasted until 2003.
Models in Indonesia are FF172, FF173, FL176, FM226, and SG221. The FF and SG were marketed as Super Ranger, the FL and FM are Jumbo Ranger.
From 1982, Ford Motor Company and Hino signed a deal for badge-engineered trucks to be known as the Ford N-series for release in the Australian and New Zealand markets to replace the Ford D-series trucks. The deal lasted 15 years. For this reason, many Hino trucks saw service down under disguised as Fords.
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Wikipedia